


Arms

by somekindoffan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Episode AU: s01e12 Skin Deep, F/M, I hope you like it!, Merry RCiJ!, Rumbelle Christmas in July, and with the yaoguai, for the lovely rumbellexremadora, rcij
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-07-24
Packaged: 2018-04-11 00:51:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4414637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somekindoffan/pseuds/somekindoffan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skin Deep au: The story where Rumple turns into the yaoguai.</p><p>Prompt: Arms by Christina Perry</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rumbellexremadora](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=rumbellexremadora).



> This work is my gift to the lovely rumbellexremadora for the Rumbelle Christmas in July. I hope you like it! It turned out completely different than I had expected and the actual prompt only appears in chapter three, but I'm quite proud with the result.

Belle entered the Dark Castle and saw Rumple sitting behind his spinning wheel, doing his best to look casual, what failed dramatically.

“Oh, you’re back already? Good. Good thing. I’m nearly out of straw.”

She walked towards him and put the straw dawn. “come on. You’re happy that I’m back.”

“I’m not unhappy.” he admitted.

“And you promised me a story.”

“Did I?” he continued to spin, but Belle stopped the wheel and sat down.

“Mm-hmm!”

“Oh.” he looked slightly flabbergasted.

“Tell me about your son.” She encouraged.

“I lost him. There’s nothing more to tell, really.” He said quietly.

“And since then, you’ve loved no one, and no one has loved you.”

“Why did you come back?”

“I wasn’t going to, but then… something changed my mind.” she gathered her courage, and pressed her lips against his and closed her eyes. He tasted sweet, with the metallic taste of magic. She could feel the magic working, and when she opened her eyes again she saw the scales dissapearing and two beautiful brown eyes watching her.

“What’s happening?” He asked suprised.

“Kiss me again,” she said exited, “it’s working!”

“What is?”

“Any curse can be broken.”

He stood up, and the chair fell down behind him. “Who told you that? Who knows that?”

“I… I don’t know. She, uh… She…”

“ ‘She.’ “ He walked towards the mirror, and Belle stood up. This wasn’t going as planned. This wasn’t going as planned at all.

“You. Evil. Soul.” He ripped the cloth from the mirror and looked furiously at it. “This was you! You turned her against me! You think you can make me weak? You think you can defeat me?”

“Who are you talking to?”

He turned around. “The queen! Your friend, the queen. How did she get to you?”

“The queen? I don’t…” This was wrong. This was very wrong.

“I knew this was a trick. I knew you could never care for me. Oh yeah. You’re working for her. Or is this all you? Is this you being the hero and killing the beast?”

She grabbed his hands. “It was working!”

“Shut up!”

“This means it’s true love!”

“Shut the hell up!”

“Why won’t you believe me?”

“Because no one could ever, ever love me!”

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards the dungeons and threw her in the same cellar where he put her when everything began. Great. Life loved a little irony. He slammed the door closed behind her and she sunk down on the bed in the corner. This was not how she expected the evening to go...

  


* * *

 

 

Rumple ran to the hall and tossed the dining table to the wall. It crashed with a satisfying bang, and he grabbed the cupboard.

_She knows too much. She can destroy you. What are you without your powers? You have too many enemies out there. You won’t survive a day without me._

“Stop!” he yelled, and destroyed the nearest chair. “This is not helping!”

_You know I am right. And what about Baelfire? We spent too long searching for him to simply let him go…_

“I know!” The second chair caught fire, and the third exploded and broke the closest window.

_And what about Regina? Are you letting her get away with this? You know as well as I do that she needs to be punished. And you have trained her too well. She can destroy you in the blink of an eye if you can’t defend yourself. Do you remember what you was before?_

“Shut up!” He screamed, and smashed the spinning wheel. The spindle stuck in his finger. The pain brought him back to his senses. He took a deep breath, and decided what he needed to do next.

 

* * *

 

 

The door opened with an extremely cliché screach and Belle stood up quickly. She squared her shoulders. She would not show him what she was thinking. She would not. “What are you going to do to me?”

“Go.” he said, without a trace of the rage he displayed earlier.

“Go?"

“I don’t want you anymore, dearie.”

Fine, Belle thought. She walked towards the door, but changed her mind and walked back. She looked Rumple in his now golden eyes. “You know you were freeing yourself. You could have happiness if you just believed that someone could want you. But you couldn’t take the chance.”

“That’s a lie.” he said quietly.

“You’re a coward, Rumplestiltskin. And now matter how thick you make your skin, that doesn’t change.”

“I’m not a coward, dearie. It’s quite simple, really. My power means more to me than you.”

“No. No it doesn’t. You just don’t think I can love you. Now you’ve made your choice, and you’re going to regret it. Forever. And all you’ll have is an empty heart and a chipped cup.” She walked away without looking back. She wouldn’t cry. She wouldn’t.

 

* * *

 

 

Rumple didn’t move for five minutes after she left. He tried to convince himself that he did the good thing, but that was difficult when part of him was screaming: Don’t let her go! You love her! and another part said: Love is weakness. You should have killed her! She knows too much. and a third part kept repeating: She doesn’t love you. Nobody has ever loved you. She betrayed her. Regina betrayed her. Kill her! so he didn’t move. He felt a strange emptiness in his heart and he started to shake.

_What is this suppost to mean? You are the dark one. You are not upset because you eliminated a weakness, are you? How have you survived all these years?_

“Shut up” he said weakly, and fell to his knees. The shaking worsened, and his head felt like it was on fire. His body ached everywhere, and the emptiness grew and grew untill suddenly it stopped. He tried to stand, but realised that he couldn’t.

_Look at where you’ve gotten us into this time. We have changed into some kind of hairy animal._

Rumple looked at himself in confusion, untill he remembered the spindle. “Maleficent” he tried to say, but it sounded like an angry roar.

_What are you waiting for? Turn us back!_

I’m working on that! Rumple thought furiously, and reached for his magic. It was still there, luckily, but when he tried to unravel the spell around him a wave of pain shook through his body. He tried again, but the pain only grew worse.

It isn’t working! Why isn’t it working? What did I do wrong?

_It doesn’t want to change back._

Lovely, another voice in my head. Just what I need. Rumple thought to the voice, but he slowly started to panic. I can’t help Bae like this. I can’t find him like this. I need my magic. This cannot happen. I need to find Bae!

_It doesn’t have to worry about things like this. Just let yourself go for a minute. It can help you take revenge without ruining your plans. Nobody knows it is you, and no mortal weapons can defeat it. Just give in. You know you want it. You know you need it._

No I don’t. Rumple thought, but he felt himself slowly fade away. I…

_It roared, and ran away from the dungeons._

 


	2. Chapter 2

_two months later_

* * *

 

Belle sat in the tavern and read a book. It was called “Pride and Prejudice” and it was a lovestory in an alternate universe. She really liked the main character, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about Darcy and felt a burning hate for Wickham. She did like world where the story took place, and wondered if the author had written other books in the same universe. It appeared in her trunk two days ago, after she finished “Her handsome Hero” for the fifth time. The trunk seemed to sense in what mood she was and it had some kind of magical connection to her library. She wasn’t sure if the trunk was magical from itself or if Rumple had… Don’t think about that. It is over, and he sent you away. She said sternly to herself.

A loud voice interrupted her thoughts: “There’s a fearsome beast ravaging a faraway kingdom. Its eyes burn with fire. They call it the yaoguai. No man has been able to kill it, but we will. There’s room on our wagon. Now who’s gonna join us?”

“Have you tried to ask the dark one, or the fairies?” the bartender asked.

“I don’t trust fairies. They always come to help when it’s convenient for them, and collect their debt ten years later. And the dark one didn’t answer our calls. He must be busy with something or another.”

Belle frowned and looked away. That wasn’t like Rumple. He always answered every call, and he would certainly be interested in something as strange as this. She had only one book about the subject and… Stop. He is not your responsibility. He will be fine, and if he won’t, he most certainly won’t appreciate your help. Remember the last time you helped him?

“Looking for an adventure?”

Belle looked up and saw the smiling face of the dwarf who loved a fairy. “Dreamy, right?”

“Yes.” He sat down in front of her. “I came here to thank you. That advice you gave me last night? It worked. Nova and I are running away together.”

Belle smiled. “That’s wonderful!”

Dreamy gestured at the men surrounding the yaoguai hunter. “Why don’t you sign up?”

Belle laughed and shook her head. “I’ve always dreamt of heroics, but I think it’s safer to stick to my books. They’re the only adventures I know have happy endings.”

“Well, maybe this one will have one, too.”

“I doubt it. Last time I faced a beast it didn’t end well.”

Dreamy looked at her in confusion. “Where are you talking about?”

Belle was saved from a very akward conversation by the yaoguai hunter, who chose that moment to leave. Dreamy drunk his beer.

“Get on that wagon! Go! Take a chance.”

“Thank you.” Belle said. She put her book in her trunk and walked towards the men.

“Wait just a minute!” Dreamy said, and handed her a pocket. “It’s fairy dust. Might come in handy.”

Belle refused to take it. “Oh no, thank you. I’ve seen what magic does to people.”

“You’ve seen what dark magic does. Fairies use this for good. Now go be a hero.”

“Okay.” she smiled, and walked towards the men. She was going on an adventure.

 

* * *

 

 

_It ran. It ran through forests, it ran through villages, it ran through the lakes (but it didn’t like it there very much) and it ran through the mountains. When the sun was up, it slept, and when the sun was hiding, it appeared. Sometimes, the humans came and tried to stop it from running. They never succeeded. Only their swords remained, stuck in its skin. They didn’t hurt it, but it was slightly annoying. And after such an encounter, it ran again. It…_

“Rumplestiltskin!”

No, he wasn’t it, he was Rumplestiltskin, and someone was calling him. He tried to reach his magic again and he roared in pain.

_Somebody hurt it. It couldn’t see anything, but it knew that it needed to leave. It ran._

 

* * *

 

 

Belle sat in the wagon, reading a book she found about the yaoguai. It was quite interesting, but it was written in Sindarin so she read it not as fast as she wished she would.

“What’s that?” One of the men asked.

“A book. I trust you have seen one before?”

“You expect to de feat the fiercest creature in the land with a book?” He asked with a puzzled look on his face.

“Maybe she means to bore it to death!” The driver shouted, and the men laughed. Belle sighed. The company was not exactly as she hoped, but it was better than nothing. Not everybody could travel around with the knights of the round table after all. She turned towards the laughing men. “It will tell us how to find the yaoguai!”

The first men (John? Jack? He never introduced himself, and the only time somebody said his name she was reading so she didn’t catch it) grabbed the book and looked at it. “These are just scribbles.”

She pulled the book back and glared at him. “It’s called another language. And one that I know how to translate.” she turned the page and looked semi-intellectual at the words. “Hmm.”

“What?” John/Jack asked.

She looked innocently at him. “Oh, I thought it were just… scribbles.”

“We’re here to defend the land, girl. If that book tells us where to go, you shall share it with us.”

“It says we’ll find the yaoguai by the lake.”

“The lake, you say?” another man, Klaus or Claude or something, said.

“Yes.” she said as sincere as possible.

“You heard her, Claude, we’re going to the lake!” John/Jack exclaimed, and pushed Belle from the carriage.

“Wait!” She shouted, to sound convincing.

“Don’t forget your book!” one of the men said, and threw it towards her. The other men laughed and the wagon drove away.

“Enjoy the lake!” She said cheerfully. Men believed everything you said to them. Everybody with even the slightest knowledge about animals could see that an animal that was literally burning would prefer a place with less water, like the mountains. She put her book in her trunk and started walking in the opposite direction.

 

* * *

 

 

Belle walked through a forest in the mountains and sighed. Nobody in books talked about how tired walking through mountains made you feel. She had spent the entire day searching for the yaoguai, and when she finally followed his tracks to a promising cave it was empty. Now she had found another cave, and it smelled like it was inhabited. She looked at the sunset and became slightly afraid. Yaoguais are only active at night, and she didn’t know if this one liked to sleep in, or to wake up before dawn, or dusk in this case. "Please be asleep.” she murmured, and walked slowly to the cave. A branch snapped under her feet, and she froze. She heard something moving in the cave, and before she could even blink her eyes the yaoguai appeared and ran stright towards her. She stumbled backwards and fell on the ground. The yaoguai came closer and she closed her eyes, untill she heard a strange noice like the sound of breaking string and she felt the heath of the yaoguai disappearing. She opened her eyes and saw the yaoguai running away. She turned her head and saw a Chinese female knight standing on the edge of the clearing. She looked utterly displeased. Belle smiled at her. “How ever can I thank you? You saved my life.”

The knight offered her a hand and she stood up. “And you ruined my hunt. It took me weeks to track the yaoguai here.”

Belle felt a vaguely proud. “I found it in a day.”

The knight looked even more annoyed. “You had luck on your side.”

“No, not luck. It was this.” she took the book from her trunk. “I could help you find it again.”

The knight shook her head. “You have done enough damage already. If you really wanna help, stay out of my way.” She put her helmet back on her head and walked away.

 

* * *

 

 

_It woke up angry. It was still too light outside to properly see anything. Or too light to be as impressive as possible, it wasn’t quite sure what the reason was it liked to sleep when it was light but the point stands: it was too light. It jumped outside and saw_

_Danger_

_Weakness_

Belle!

Rumple sprang forwards to check if she was all right when suddenly something sharp hit him in the side. It didn’t hurt much, but

_it ran away. It vaguely felt the urge to look back, but it didn’t see why that would be necessary. So it ran._

 


	3. Chapter 3

Belle exited the tavern where she had spend the night and walked to the well in the middle of the village. She felt angry and useless. Why was she so weak? She didn’t even injure the beast and if the knight wasn’t there she would have died. She didn’t even know her name to properly thank her. And what was she supposed to do now? She could go back to the tavern she was before, but what would she do there, exept drowning herself in self-pity? She could also go back to Avonlea to marry Gaston and bear children and smile and be pretty, but that was even more stupid. She already sent them a letter when she left the Dark Castle, but they didn’t answer, and she wouldn’t go anywhere she wasn’t wanted. She was so caught up in her thought that she didn’t notice the men behind her until they lifted her feet of the stones and held her upside down above the well.

“The yaoguai wasn’t at the lake.” one of the men said, and Belle suddenly remembered who they were.

“I’m… I’m sorry. I must have misread that one.” Belle said, frantically thinking of a good way to talk her out of this. She could kick them, but if they let her go she would drown in the well. She tried to remember if there was anybody else at the market square, but the man spoke again.

“See, you know what I think happened? I think you sent us in the wrong direction on purpose.”

Belle wanted to say something, but suddenly she heard the sound of a brick hitting someone’s head and her attacker lowered her. She looked in the direction of the sound and she saw a man lying on the ground. The man behind her screamed and she turned around. She saw the knight attacking the man with what seemed like three or four swords at the same time. He tried to block some of her attacks with his sword, but it clattered on the floor when she hit his hand with a sound of breaking bones. Belle winched sympathetically. The knight removed her helmet and the man stammered: “Wait. You’re a…”

“Yeah, I know.” The knight said. “Now go.”

The man ran away and looked back at his comrade, glanced at the knight, decided that their friendship wasn’t worth another broken hand and left the market square.

“I didn’t expect to see you again. Thank you.”

The knight shrugged. “I had to deal with brutes like them when I served in the emperor’s army, fools who think we have no business holding a sword. I only wish there was someone there to stand up for me.”

“You’re bleeding!”

“I’ll survive.” she said casually, and gestured towards the sky. “The sun will be setting soon. We need to move out.”

“What do you mean “we”?” Belle asked.

“You tracked the yaoguai in a matter of hours. It took me weeks. You track the beast and I’ll kill it. I’m Mulan, by the way.”

She took her hand and shook it. “Belle. I’d be honored to help you.”

 

* * *

 

 

Four hours later Belle finally found the tracks again, and discovered the yaoguai spent his day in a village in the middle of the mountains. Again. Luckily the village was almost evacuated when the beast arrived, so everybody survived with nothing more serious than burns and nightmares for a week. She looked at Mulan, who was acting like her leg didn’t hurt. Belle gestured towards the village. “It’s just ahead.”

“You found it. Your books serve you well.” Mulan said slightly surprised, and her leg gave in.

Belle caught her and carefully lowered her to the ground. “Mulan, your leg’s getting worse.”

“No, I need to protect my village.” She hissed in pain when Belle removed the bandage. The wound wasn’t infected, but it started to bleed again.

“You can’t even walk! How are you gonna kill the yaoguai?”

“I’m not.” Mulan sighed. “You are.”

“Me?” Belle asked surprised. “I’m not a soldier!”

“You have good instincts.” Mulan pointed out. “You tracked the beast faster than I ever could.”

“Tracking it and killing it are not the same thing.”

“There was once a time when people didn’t think that I had what it took either, but I proved them wrong.”

“How?” Belle asked.

“By showing them that I had a warrior’s instinct. When I found something worth fighting for, I fought for it with everything that I had. I never gave up.” She handed her sword to Belle, who accepted it, flabbergasted. “Belle, the fate of my village depends on you. Don’t be afraid.”

“But… What if another animal comes your way? How can you defend yourself?”

Mulan smirked and unsheated a dagger from a hiding place in her boot. “My sword isn’t my only weapon. Now go, before the beast runs of again.”

 

* * *

 

 

Belle slowly made her way to the village. It took far longer than she expected, despite the fact that she spent enough time in the mountains to properly guess the distance between places. She wondered if she made a mistake or that time itself was working against her. She saw a light in the streets, and licked her suddenly dry lips. Do the brave thing and bravery will follow, she thought. She unsheated her sword and walked towards the light.

 

* * *

 

 

_It found this place a night ago. The inhabitants ran away as soon as they saw it, but they left enough food and shelter for it, so it decided to stay here for a while. The second after it made this desicion, it heard a metallic sound. It roared in frustration. Why couldn’t they just leave it alone for a few days? It didn’t ask for much! It ran across the corner and attacked the enemy_

_a weakness_

Belle!

 

* * *

 

 

She heard a roaring sound and the yaoguai came running towards her, exactly like the last time. But this time she was prepared. She yelled and swung her sword towards it. It looked at her, and for a moment it seemed like he recognized her, but that dissapeared as soon as the sword hit its target. It jumped away, roared, and ran away. Belle didn’t hesitate a moment and followed it into a dead end.

 

* * *

 

 

_It roared at the houses, and tried to burn them away, but the walls wouldn’t listen. It turned around and…_

Belle crossed the corner with a sword in her hand and a determined look in her eyes. She carefully approached him, and he tried to say something, but it came out as a roar. Kill her! She is a weakness! She can defeat you! She doesn’t really care for you! Kill her before she kills you! the voice in his head said, but it was much softer with Belle this close. He tried to think of a way to let her know what was going on, but she didn’t give him time and attacked.

 

* * *

 

 

The beast wasn’t moving, and Belle took this opportunity to stab it with all her power. The yaoguai yelped in pain, and the sword shattered. She looked surprised at it, and the yaoguai pushed her away and ran away again. She threw the useless hilt away, and felt if there was anything in her pockets. There was some money, and some breadcrumbs, and a leather bag. She looked at it in confusion, and recognized it as the fairy dust. Better this than nothing, she thought, and followed the yaoguai. It froze when it saw her, and she threw the fairy dust. The dust sank into its skin and formed ugly wounds. The beast yelped and ran into the well at the center of the market square. She heard a loud splash, but after that nothing. Belle walked slowly to the edge of the well, and cautiously looked down. The yaoguai’s fire was extinghuished, the fairy dust wounds were healing and the yaoguai was drowning. It tried its hardest to keep his head above the surface, but didn’t quite manage it. It looked at her with large, desperate, human looking eyes. Belle hesitated a moment, and reached down. She put her arms around its neck and pulled it out of the well...

 

* * *

 

 

The moment Belle’s arms touched his skin voluntarely, the spell started to unravel. It felt strange, but not unpleasant. He felt relieved for a moment, untill he remembered the last time he and Belle spoke. He swallowed, and Belle looked up. She pulled her arms away as fast as she could, and looked utterly displeased.   
“You!” she said slightly surprised and very angry.

“Belle!” he said, and she put her hands on her waist.

“You have ten seconds to explain what you are doing here.”

“Maleficent.” he blurted out, and she raised an eyebrow.

“What possible reason can Maleficent have to turn you into a monster made of fire that terrorizes villages miles from the Dark Castle?”

“She boobytrapped my spinning wheel the last time she visited, and I accidentally triggered that spell when you… I…”

“I can guess when. Why didn’t you just turn back?”

“The spell surpressed my magic abilities. I could only turn back if somebody voluntarely hugged me.”

“And why were you here?”

“The spell also changed my mind into that of a yaoguai. I couldn’t properly think, so the beast followed its instincts and ended up here. I would have stayed like this forever and I wouldn’t even realised it if it wasn’t for you.  Belle, I am so sorry. I should never have let you go. I just panicked, and I know that is not an excuse, but…”

“Why?” she asked. “Why did you chose power? Is somebody coming after you? I tried to figure it out, but...”

 _You cannot trust her! She will leave you! They all have. Malcolm has, Milah has, and even Cora! What makes her different?_ He surpressed the voice, and said quickly: “It’s my son. He fell through a portal and I need my magic to find it. Belle, I’m sorry, and I would give it up if I could, but I can’t. I cannot give him up.”

Belle smiled, walked towards him and hugged him. He hugged her back. “This doesn’t mean you are completely forgiven.” she warned him. “But I get it. And I love you.”

“I love you too.” he said, and despite everything he felt himself more at home than he felt for more than three hundred years.


End file.
